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Other Features: We're changing things Online exclusive: Zastudil gets his kicks Unlocking life's mysteries That's one crazy cat Making music history An absolute film feast Kickin' it up a notch   Mascot trivia (to impress your friends) Ohio University shares its Bobcat moniker with 11 other U.S. colleges or universities, according to Roy Yarbrough, author of "The History of Senior College and University Mascots/Nicknames" and professor of sport management studies at California University of Pennsylvania. Among the other Bobcats: Montana State University, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Frostburg University in Maryland and College of the Ozarks in Arkansas. The University of Illinois, Yarbrough says, became the first to have a performing mascot when, in 1906, members of the Native American Studies Department performed Indian dances to halftime music. The most common mascot is the eagle, claimed by 74 colleges and universities. Some unusual mascots include the Banana Slugs of the University of California at Santa Cruz, the BollWeevil of the University of Arkansas at Monticello, the Poets of Whittier College in California and the Bridges of New York City University at Brooklyn.   Calling all Bobcats Patrick Donadio, BSC '80 and MBA '81, is compiling a list of former Bobcat mascots in hopes of organizing a future reunion. If you donned the costume during your college days, contact him at Patrick@PatrickDonadio.com or (614) 488-9164.

Marty Parker, BBA '97, was both the Marching 110 announcer and the Bobcat during his college years. By then he'd already been a tiger mascot at his Greenfield, Ohio, high school; played restaurateur Chuck E. Cheese; and portrayed the Paint Horse for the Chillicothe Paints minor league baseball team, so he knew what it would take to be the Bobcat. "You'd go around and you knew that somebody at all times was watching the Bobcat. He constantly had to be doing something, if not funny, then in character," he says. "I characterized it as a nonstop action figure. Whether the team won or lost, I had no clue. I was going the whole time." An early version of the Bobcat celebrates with the Bobkitten during a rainy game. Photo courtesy of Patrick Donadio He remembers one particular gag that really got the crowd's attention. His props included a doughnut, a string and a broomstick. "On the main floor of the Convo where the players come out, there were always police standing there with their arms crossed," Parker says. "I'd climb up a level above them and make sure the whole Convo was watching. I'd slowly turn that handle and the doughnut would creep down in front of the cop. One cop actually grabbed the doughnut and took a bite out of it." If Parker seems like a natural at this, perhaps it's not surprising he could take it to the next level. And that's just what he did. During college, the finance major read about how day traders could make $2,000 or $3,000 a day, and he decided that would be his career. Then he learned he'd have to come up with $25,000 as an initial investment to enter the field. Shortly after graduation, he took a shot at a job as a mascot with Major League Baseball, learning the details just two days before auditions. Apparently he wowed the judges anyway: He was chosen to be Lou Seal, the mascot for the San Francisco Giants. In one season, he made his $25,000, put the money in the market and has been trading ever since. "It's an entirely different world," he says of being a mascot for the pros. "You are literally a superstar all the time. People want you to sign autographs -- even when you're out of costume." No matter the venue or who's wearing the suit, the name of the game is fun, says Sarah Newcomer, a freshman who is sharing Bobcat duties this year with Vala and Thomas Brammell, BSC '05. "One little girl came up to me (at a game) holding this picture of the Bobcat. She said, 'I love the Bobcat,' and she gave it to me," Newcomer says. "I get mobbed by little kids. It's really overwhelming sometimes, but I have a blast." Now there's a tradition that hasn't changed. "People look forward to meeting the mascot," says former Bobcat Donadio, whose college memories prompted him to save pictures, newspaper articles and even the field pass he used as the Bobcat and its adviser. "You would think they're meeting the president of the United States. Even adults -- it brings out the kid in the adults. You shake their hand and all of a sudden an energy goes from your hand to their hand, and it brings excitement." Joan Slattery Wall is assistant editor of Ohio Today.